Material handling apparatus



Dec. 26, 1939.

e. ARMS ET AL 8 ,788

MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 23, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 GEORGEL. ARMS, AND

FRANCIS E. MGGOVERN,

ATT'Y.

Dec. 26, 1939.

G. L. ARMS E! AL MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 23, 1

957 2 Shets-Sheet 2 .,w .v s T mi A L M E w m mo m EA G m% Patented Dec.26, 1939 UNITED STATES 'MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS George L. Arms andFrancis E. McGovern, Columbus, Ohio, assignors to The JeifreyManufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application December 23,1937, Serial No. 181,385

12 Claims.

lhis invention relates to a method of and apparatus for handlinggranular material such as coal, gravel, crushed stone and similarmaterial.

An object of the invention is to provide an im proved method of andapparatus for handling material of the above mentionedclass,'particularly to classify the material as to size ranges and toconvey material which is mixed with water while maintaining at a minimumthe over-all height of the necessary equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and system ofhandling material which is mixed with water by separating the water fromthe material of relatively large size and employing at least part of theseparated water to wash the smaller particles of material down a chuteor fiume.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. i is a side elevation of an installation incorporating the featuresof our invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of apparatus incorporating thefeatures of our invention; V

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevational view taken on the line 3-3of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. l is a transverse sectional view taken on the line l4 of Fig. 1looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the construction of a modern .-coal cleaning plant or tipple everyeffort is made to maintain the height of the building at a minimum, forthe building height is a very important ite'm'in the total cost of sucha plant. The present invention is designed with this basic principle inmind and it relates particularly to apparatus for treating the coalwhich is mixed with water after it issues from the coal cleaning unitsuch as the jig. The apparatus and method are also useful, however, inthe treating of other material, such as gravel, crushed stone, etc.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings there is illustrated,an upper de-watering screen it which,. in the complete installation, ispositioned to receive coal mixed with water from .ie coal-cleaning unit,such as the jig. The upper de-watering screen it) is pivotally mountedupon hanger rods l l, 5! supported upon a superstructure l2 for shakingmovement andis oscilia-ted by a crank rod 13 driven by a crank shaft itto which is connected a drive pulley l5 driven by an electric motor i E.The bottom plate of'the upper ole-watering screen is provided with relatively large perforations which, by way of example, may be one andone-quarter inch, thus permitting a range of material below this size topass therethrough. Larger material received by the screen I!) will bedischarged over its discharge end to an upper sizing screen I! pivotallymounted upon superstructure l2 by hangers one of which is seen at I8.The upper sizing screening ll will have a perforated bottom plate todischarge material of a predeter mined size onto a lower sizing screen i9 also supported from the superstructure l2 by hangers one of which isseen at 20. i

Positioned below the upper de-watering screen lb to receive the sizerange of material which passes through it is a lower d e-watering screenH which is pivotally mounted upon hangers 22, 22 carried bysuperstructure l2. Oscillation of the lower de-watering screen 2! iseffected by a crank rod 23 also connected to the crank shaft M. Thecrank rods l3 and 23 are connected 180 degrees out of phase with respectto the crank shaft M thereby counterbalancing the forces on said crankshaft.

It is to be' noted that the upper de-watering' screen it] and the lowertie-watering screen 2! slope dovmwardly from their material receivingends to their material discharge ends and this slope, particularly incombination with the oscillatory movement which they, receive, willcause any material on them to flow downwardly to their discharge ends.It may be mentioned that instead of having the sloping screens Ill and2| these screens may be made horizontal and given a conveying action byinclined supportingcantilevers in a manner well understood in the screenart.

Adjacent the lower or discharge end of the dewatering screen 2! weprovide a chute 24 whigli conveys the material received. by said screen2! and incapable of passing through the perforations in the bottomthereof, and delivers it to a mixing conveyor 25. The chute 2G ispreferably provided with one-quarter inch perforations along the area 26whichwill allow the very fine degradation to pass from said chute 24 andinto a hopper 21 from which it will be conveyed to a slack car or toequipment for further treating. As was previously pointed out, the upperdewatering screen has perforations in its bottom plate which may be ofone and one-quarter inch size and thus the lower die-watering screen 2|will receive material of one and one-quarter inch by zero (l x 0) sizerange.

The bottom of the lower de-watering screen 2! is in the form of a screencloth 28 which extends substantially the entire length thereof and, asan example, may be of three-quarter inch mesh. Said screen cloth issectioned, however, by a plate 29 which is necessary to provide room forthe crank shaft M which extends therebelow.

Positioned below the lower de-watering screen 2| is a fiurne or chute31] which slopes in a direction opposite to that of the screen 25. Itwill be noted that the slope of the de-watering screen 2| is relativelygradual and is less than the angle of repose of the material, such ascoal, which is being treated. However, since this screen is given areciprooatory motion the coal will pass readily thereover from thereceiving end to the discharge end. The flume 3%, however, is stationaryas it is supported from the foundation or a main frame of the building3! by spaced supports 32, 32.

In order to maintain the over-all height of the building at a minimum,thus to keep down the cost of the complete installation, the slope ofthe flume 3!! is relatively gradual and is appreciably less than theangle of repose of the material being treated. It is, of course, evidentthat the water and fine material below three-quarter inch mesh whichpasses through the screen 2! will be received by the flume 3%. Due tothe slight incline thereof, as above set forth, there is a definitetendency for the material to pile up on the bottom of said fiume and notflow down it. This is particularly true in view of the fact that themixture of coal and water which is received by the lower ole-wateringscreen 2i is received to a large extent adjacent the topmost portionthereof or receiving portion 33 Of course, material will be received byflume 38 through substantially the entire length of the screen 21 as itpasses through the openings in the upper dewatering screen 19 butsubstantially all of the water which is mixed with the coal will flowfrom the upper tie-watering screen it immediately upon the reaching ofthe perforations in the bottom thereof and, in turn, will likewise flowthrough the receiving portion 33 of the lower de-watering screen 2! andinto the lower end of flume 30. As a consequence, the material whichpasses through the intermediate and lower portions of the screen 2! aresubstantially devoid of water and thus do not flow freely when receivedby the flrune 30.

In the method and apparatus of our invention we intercept a portion ofthe water mixed with the coal and convey it to a position adjacent theupper end of the flu-me 3!? where its direction of travel is changed sothat it is discharged onto the bottom plate of said flume 30 in adirection which it thereafter flows along said flume bottom. In thismanner a free flow of the material on the relatively gradually slopingflume 30 is assured without requiring the addition of any water over andabove that which is in the unsized material as it is received from thejig, except possibly for a slight amount of water which is used to washoff the coal, as hereinafter described in full detail.

In order to accomplish the above described results we provide aplurality of longitudinally extending pipes 3 1 between the screen 2iand the flume 3B which slope downwardly with said screen 2| and aresupported in said flume 3E. Adjacent their lower ends the pipes 34terminate in a nozzle 35 which is formed by a transversely extendingplate 36 which extends between the side plates 31, 37 of the flurne 3i]and is provided with three apertures through which the three pipes 34extend and to which said pipes 34 are welded.

Rigidly attached to the top of the plate 36 and to the side walls 37 ofthe flume 30, we provide a plate 38 which is curved at 39 to change thedirection of travel of the water and to discharge it onto the bottom ofthe fiume 30 in the direction the water will thereafter normally flowdown said flume.

The nozzle 35 also includes a bottom plate 46 which is welded at one endto the transversely extending plate 35 and extends between the sideplates 31, 31 and is welded thereto. The upper end of the plate 46 isspaced slightly from the curved plate 38 to form an elongated restrictedopening or orifice H which extends transversely of the entire width ofthe flume 30. The orifice 4! preferably has an area which issubstantially equal to the combined areas of the three pipes 34 so thatthe water issuing from said orifice 48 will have substantially the samevelocity as the water as it flows through said pipes 34. It is thus tobe seen that the water which flows downwardly by gravity through thepipes 3 3 in three separate streams is formed into a sheet which extendssubstantially the full Width of the flume 30 and is discharged onto thebottom of said flume at a position nearthe top thereof and. in thedirection which the water normally fiows along said flume or, in otherwords, along the direction of incline thereof.

It is also'to be noted that the bottom-most portion of the plate 38 isspaced slightly above the bottom of the fiume 30 to allow material topass thereunder as hereinafter described. In addition, the curvedportion 39 of said plate 38 is provided with a small transverselyextending opening or a plurality of drill holes 42 extendingtransversely thereof to permit a small amount of the fluid which isdischarged from the opening Ml to pass to the bottom of the flume 30 ata position above that where the main sheet of water is discharged ontosaid flume. This is provided because in practice it has been found thatthere is a tendency for a small amount of Ina-- terial to accumulate inthe uppermost portion of the fiume 30 and this small stream or spray ofwater is sufficient to wash this material down the flume with the mainmaterial received thereby. The positioning of the bottom-most portion ofthe plate 38 above the bottom of the flume 3B, of course, allows thismaterial to flow with the water readily thereunder.

In order to insure the proper distribution of the water which flows fromthe curved plate 38 onto the bottom. of the flume 30 where the materialto be picked up by said water is concentrated on the bottom of saidflume 30, we also preferably provide a plurality of spaced upstandingdistribution plates 43 which are spaced to form the bottom of said flume30 into three separate troughs. thereby insuring a complete removal ofall of the material which falls on the bottom of said fiume 30.

It may additionally be pointed out that the lower de-watering screen 2|carries a transversely inclined guide plate 44 at its discharge endwhich slopes downwardly opposite the sloping of said screen 2| anddirects any material which is received thereby onto the bottom of thefiume 30 below the nozzle 35. This plate 44 will, of course, clearitself because it reciprocates with the screen 2|.

A guide plate 45 is also provided near the upper or feed end of thescreen 2| which plate 45 is part of the stationary flume 30. This platewill,

however, clear itself readily as it has a fairly steep slope and, inaddition, there will be a fair amount of water with the coal whichdischarges onto said plate 45.

It may also be noted that any coal which passes through the receivingportion 33 of the screen 2| is received by the flume near the dischargeportion thereof and is guided thereto by a stationary guide plate 46which not only has'a relatively steep slope but will also receive anappreciable amount of Water.

In order to intercept a portion of the water which discharges largelythrough the screen 2! at the receiving portion 33, the upper ends of thepipes are slit open, as clearly illustrated in Fig 4 of the drawings,and provided with outwardly extending flanges Q! which provide effectivereceiving hoppers for the pipes 34. The upper ends of the pipes 34 arepreferably closed by plates 48 thus completing the structure of saidwater receiving hoppers. It is to be noted that the hoppers arelaterally spaced apart, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of thedrawings, as a consequence of which they do-no-t intercept all of thewater which passes through the receiving portion 33 of the screen 21,but do intercept a substantial amount of it, sufficient to insure thefree flowing of the material along the flume 30.

It is additionally to be noted by reference to Fig. l of the drawingsthat we have provided sprinkler washing means comprising a spray pipe 49having a plurality of transversely extending spray nozzles 53 whichspray the coal on the upper de-watering screen after it has been denudedof the larger portion of the water which flowed with it from the jig andalso a plurality of transversely extending nozzles 5! which spray thecoal on the lower de-watering screen 2! after it has been robbed of mostof the water with which it was mixed in the jig. This spray means is forthe purposeof making the coal clean and bright, as the water with whichit is mixed in the jig is often dirty.

In the cperationof the apparatus with the consequent realization of themethod comprising our invention, material such as cleaned coal is'received from a jig by the upper de-watering screen ill which screen isin vibration. The principal portion of the water in the mixture willflow through the screen as soon as the perforations in the bottomthereof are reached and will flow immediately to the lower de-wateringscreen 21. The wet coal on the screen l6 will then travel down saidscreen by which it will be separated according to size ranges with thelarger particles de-watered by the vibration of screen H3 anddischarging over the end thereof to be further treated by the sizingscreens I! and 19. The smaller particles of coal, for example, minus oneand one-quarter inch. will be shaken relatively free of water anddischarged onto the lower dewatering screen 2!. It may also be mentionedthat after the discharge of the water which is mixed with the coal bythe screen I!) said coal will be washed by the spray means 50 to removeany adhering dirt.

The water which passes first through the screen 90 and onto the screen2| will, of course, also contain some coal and this water with therelatively fine particles of coal will immediately pass through thereceiving portion 33 of the lower ole-watering screen 2! and into thedischarge end of the flume 38 except that which is caught or interceptedfor further use, as hereinafter described.

The fairly ole-watered material on the immediate and lower portions ofthe screen 2! will be further de-watered and classified according tosize with the smaller particles thereof passing through said screen andinto the flume 30, the larger particles passing over the discharge endof the screen 2! and into the conveyor 2'5 by way of the chute 2d- Thescreen 25 of" the chute 24 will remove any degradation below one-quarterinch and discharge it into hopper 2'! from which it will be taken forfurther treatment. It will be evident that the oscillatory motion of thescreen 2i will not only cause a conveying action on the material butwill also aid in freeing it of adhering water particles.

it will thus be seen that the material received by the mixing conveyor25 and by the upper and lower sizing screens El and i9, will be gradedaccording to size, will have been washed free of dirt particles receivedin the jigging or cleaning operation and will be delivered relativelyfree of water, though, of course, the .said particles will be damp.

The smaller size ranges of materials as determined by the size of thescreen cloth 28 which, for example, .i be minus three-quarter inch, willbe received by the flume 3i and washed downwardly from said fiume by thewater which is intercepted by the pipes it as it passes through thereceiving portion 33 of the screen 28 and is discharged in a sheet oversubstantially the entire width of the bottom of the flum e 39 adjacentthe upper end thereof and in a direction in which the water normallyflows thereafter down said flume 30.

It be mentioned that the discharging of this sheet of Water ispreferably in the direction it flows down said flume Iiii, as aforesaid,to insure its direct straight-line motion along said bottom of the iiume3b which prevents any whirlpools and thereby prevents any accumulationof material on the bottom of the fluine' 30. In other words", thisinsures a rapid straight-line motion of the water along the bottom ofthe flurn-e Eli which will insure the carrying away of the coal receivedthereby.

It should be understood that while the water with the clean coal fromthe jig may be relied upon to supply the fiurne 38, the amount may besupplemented by the spray water from the nozzles iii and El. Valves forthe nozzles 59 and 5! may be supplied so as to secure a regulation ofthe water flowalcng the fluzne Sid. It is preferred to locate the nozzle55? directly above the upper open or hopper ends M, 33 of the pipes 34,so that the spraywater may pass through the screens iii and 25' insuccession and thence into the hoppers. The spray water from the nozzles5! passes through screen ili (Fig. 2) directly to the bottom of fiume5Q.

Obviouslythose skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritand scopeof the invention as defined by the claims hereto app-ended, and wetherefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of our invention, whatwe'desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: v

1. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen havinga feed endand a discharge end, of a sloping flume positioned to catchdirectly material passing through the entire area of said screen, meansfor catching water which passes through said screen adjacent the feedend thereof and conveying it to a position adjacent the top of saidfiume, and means constructed and arranged to cause said water todischarge onto the fiume in the direction of the slope thereof.

2. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen and asloping fiume positioned immediately below it to catch directly materialwhich passes through said screen, of means for feeding granular materialand water to said screen, means for intercepting at least part of thewater in said material and conveying it separately from said materialreceived by said flume from said screen to a position adjacent the topof said flume, and means for discharging said intercepted water onto thefiume adjacent the top thereof in the general direction of the slopethereof.

3. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen, asloping flume positioned immediately below it to catch directly fallingmaterial passing through the entire area of said screen, and means forcatching water passing through said screen and conveying it to the topof said fiume comprising a pipe positioned below said screen having anopen top and water catching flanges, said open top and flanges beingpositioned adjacent the material receiving end of said screen.

4. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen havinga feed end and a discharge end, of a sloping fiume positionedimmediately below said screen with the top adjacent the discharge endthereof, means for catching liquid which passes through said screen atits feed end and discharging it onto the top of said flume comprising aplurality of spaced sloping pipes positioned between said screen andfiume and having their upper ends open and positioned to catch fluidpassing through the feed end of said screen, said pipes having laterallyextending fluid catching flanges along their open sides.

5. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a screen havinga feed end and a discharge end, of a sloping fiume positionedimmediately below said screen with the top adjacent the discharge endthereof, means for catching liquid which passes through said screen atits feed end and discharging it onto the top of said fiume comprising aplurality of spaced sloping pipes positioned between said screen andfiume and having their upper ends open and positioned to catch fluidpassing through the feed end of said screen.

6. In material handling apparatus, the combination with a sloping screenhaving a material receiving upper end and a material discharging lowerend, of means for Vibrating said screen, means for feeding a mixture ofgranular ma terial and water to the upper end of said screen, a flumepositioned immediately below said screen having a bottom slopingoppositely to the slope of said screen and positioned to catch directlymaterial which passes through said screen, and means for catching liquidwhich passes through the upper end of said screen and conveying it tothe upper end of said fiume where it is discharged in a sheet onto saidfiume and in the direction of the slope thereof comprising a pluralityof pipes having receiving hoppers positioned below the upper end of saidscreen to receive water passing therethrough and a discharge nozzle fedby all of said pipes having a continuous restricted opening with a widthsubstantially equal to the fiume and having curved plate means to changethe direction of flow of water through said pipes to discharge it tosaid fiume as aforesaid.

'7. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a screen,of a sloping fiume positioned immediately therebelow to receive materialdirectly passing through said screen with its top end adjacent thedischarge end of said screen, means for feeding a mixture of granularmaterials and water to said screen, and means for intercepting some ofthe water in said feed and directing it to the top of said fiume, saidmeans including a member constructed and arranged to change thedirection of travel of said intercepted water and to discharge it ontosaid fiume in a sheet and in the direction said water flows down saidflume.

8. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a screen,of a sloping fiume imme diately therebelow positioned to receivematerial directly passing through said screen with its top end adjacentthe discharge end of said screen, means for feeding a mixture ofgranular materials and water to said screen, and means for interceptingsome of the water in said feed and directing it to the top of saidfiume, said means including a member constructed and arranged to changethe direction of travel of said intercepted water and to discharge itonto said fiume and in the direction said water flows down said fiume.

9. Screening and conveying apparatus for granular material mixed withwater comprising the combination with a screen, of a sloping fiumepositioned immediately therebelow and having its top adjacent thedischarge end of said screen, means for intercepting part of the fluidmixed with said material and washing the material down said fiumetherewith comprising a discharge nozzle having a portion curved tochange the direction of travel of the intercepted fluid and having awide mouthed restricted orifice and so constructed and arranged thatsaid fluid will discharge in a sheet into said flume'in the generaldirection it thereafter flows down said fiume.

10. In combination with a sloping fiume, of means for feeding waterthereto by gravity comprising feed pipe means sloping in a directionother than that of the fiume, and a nozzle constructed and arranged todischarge water from said feed pipe means to said fiume adjacent the topthereof in a sheet and in the direction it flows down said flume, saidnozzle comprising a curved plate for changing the direction of flow ofthe water, and cooperating plate means to form a restricting orifice.

11. In combination with a sloping fiume, of means for feeding waterthereto by gravity comprising feed pipe means sloping in a directionother than that of the fiume, and a nozzle constructed and arranged todischarge water from said feed pipe means to said fiume adjacent the topthereof in a sheet and in the direction it flows down said fiume, saidnozzle comprising a curved plate for changing the direction of flow ofthe water, and cooperating plate means tov 12. In combination with asloping flume, of means for feeding Water thereto by gravity comprisingfeed pipe means sloping in a direction other than that of the flume, anozzle constructed and arranged to discharge Water from said feed pipemeans to said flame adjacent the top thereof in a sheet and in thedirection it flows down said fiume, said nozzle comprising a curvedplate for changing the direction of flow of the Water, and cooperatingplate means to form a restricting orifice, said nozzle being posi tionedabove the bottom of said fiume, and means for supplying additional Waterto said flume at a position above said nozzle, which 5 water flows downsaid flume under said nozzle.

GEORGE L. ARMS. FRANCIS E. MCGOVERN.

